Sonic Supreme
by lunateix
Summary: Inspired by Marvel Ultimates, expect an alternate universe, or rather, a reinvention of events in Sonic the Hedgehog


Some Author's Notes: Welcome to Sonic Supreme, inspired by the Marvel Ultimate comic line. That pretty much means this is a complete reinvention of the series. Some things should seem cool to you, some things…maybe not so much. Now…this is my first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic…ever. I've played plenty of games, I just seem to tank out around the comics. In reality, I'm more of a Megaman fan…which should manifest itself here. It's just I was in my car when it occurred to me: Sonic & MegamanBlue and Main Protagonist, Knuckles & ProtomanRed and Deuterogamist, Shadow & BassBlack and Antihero. Then it occurred to me that they both have an insane doctor who's an expert on robotics as their main antagonist.

This resulted in me screaming, "Dear god! They're alternate universes of each other!" Right into the ear of the lady at the McDonald's Drivethru.

In order to keep this idea in my head, I had to write it down. Write the first chapter, I did. Now rather than let it collect virtual dust on my PC, I shoved it on my profile here so that people can get a look at it and give me their two-cents.

Pesky Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters, that's all Sega.

Pesky Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman and related characters, that's all Capcom.

Pesky Disclaimer: I don't own Super Robot Wars related characters, that's all Banpresto.

Now I sincerely doubt I used any SRW characters in this chapter…but I'm prone to do it, so they might have snuck in. If you never played an SRW game before—which doesn't surprise me if you haven't—seek out Original Generation 1&2 for GBA…they're like the only two in English, so you don't have to go and learn moonspeak just to play a great game.

All that said and done, on with the Chapter, on with Sonic Supreme!

Additional thanks to Juggalo Statix (Not on this site) and Kronus Overlord (Not on this site) for their assistance.

----------

Undisclosed Location

"_Heart rate, stable."_

"_Adrenaline flow, stable."_

"_Brain function, stable."_

"_We're getting minor anomalous readings from some of the spinal receptors. Other than that, Project Shadow is ready for deployment."_

All these voices had come to him via radio communication from an observation post, miles in the distance. After all, he was _wearing_ Project Shadow at the moment, in the field. It wasn't like you could do a test like this indoors.

He was surrounded by darkness, but that was only because he was sitting in the back of a van that was screeching to a halt. After a few moments, its shuttered door opened and cast harsh rays of sun down on him.

As he shielded his eyes, the sun glinted off his distinctive black armor. It was slender and complemented his form, though why its inventor had insisted on this entirely black with a touch of white paint in the chest armor was beyond him. He got up and grunted a little, feeling a small pain in his back.

"_Eric, you know, you didn't have to get the spinal surgery. This is only a field test, we could have sacrificed some of the synchronicity for your own health's sake."_

"Yeah, yeah," the man in the armor, Eric, replied. As he walked forward, several flexible tubes running from his head into a panel on the van tugged back on him. _"Energy charge complete," _an elderly man's voice said, _"You can detach the cables."_ "Roger that."

With a hiss, the tubes on his head released from the panel and seemingly hovered in place around his head, giving a distinctive, spiky look.

He stepped into the open, a wide field reserved specifically for today's live combat exercise. As he stepped forward., the van sped away, but his loneliness was short-lived. Soon, several tanks, Model UEF77-04, entered the scene. They were a dependable, curved design that relied on active armor to take the brunt of damage while its powerful 80mm linear cannon had a rate of fire that could reduce most targets to smoldering slag in mere moments of the initial encounter.

The elderly voice spoke again. _"Eric, we have a lot of suits watching, so don't hold back. All you have to do is defeat the tank battalion. The green ones are automated, the three red ones are manned. Keep that in mind when you show them the power of Project Shadow!"_

"Sure thing, Professor Gerald," Eric replied as large cannons trained on him. "Hey, army guys," he called out. "I'm positive that you don't know what you're getting yourselves into, why don't you give up now? Sure, the test doesn't go through, but hey, at least you're spared the humiliation."

He smirked behind a white visor as he heard the murmurings of his opponents, but lost that smile when he heard Professor Gerald speak up. _"Eric Robotnik! No son of mine will mouth off like that in the middle of something so important! Think if your children heard you talking like that! You have to set the example for Ivo and Maria's sakes!"_

"Ah yes! Sorry dad, er, Professor, no wait, I mean…" He heard chuckling now from those tanks and he growled. "Ah, whatever. Eric Robotnik and Project Shadow, beginning exercise."

He charged, powerful boots digging into the Earth, propelling him forward as the lead tanks automatically began to reverse their course. "That's it, run away," Eric commented before a blip in his visor alerted him to a development. "What? Uh-oh."

A division was rolling up on him from either side, with each tank utilizing a laser sight for pinpoint accuracy. To make matters worse, the lead tanks he was chasing had spun their turrets 180 degrees and had locked on. "Fine!" He shouted, "Let's play!" Simultaneously, the tanks fired off three rounds in quick precision.

"Chaos…control!"

He vanished as the rounds collided with each other. Unsettling murmurs resounded from the tank pilots and the observation crews as to Eric's whereabouts, so they all met with healthy surprise as he plummeted from the sky with a lethal sickle kick into one of the tanks. Despite its armor, it couldn't stand to the pummeling and its metal screamed and tore before both sides shot to the air and it crumpled in on itself.

"_As you can see," _Professor Gerald's voice began, _"Project Shadow utilizes the latest in bionics, as well as several other experimental fields."_ Eric grinned as he began to dodge cannon fire, as well as the rapid fire of anti-personnel flak cannons with lightning quick speed and reflex. While his father was explaining the suit, he was content with demonstrating it, and he was going to put on a show.

"_It feeds off the power of the Chaos Emeralds. As you know, there are hundreds of them, littered all over the planet, connected by the mysterious Master Emerald we recovered fifteen years ago. With it, not only does the lightweight material in Project Shadow become a reality, but it boasts superior characteristics."_

Eric dashed under the wild shot of a tank before getting a grip on its turret and pulling. Strain building up in him, he finally ripped the turret free from the rest of the vehicle before tossing it into another.

"_Project Shadow has incredible physical strength at its disposal, as well as speed. You haven't seen half its top speed, but currently, the strain is too much for a human being, Eric won't be using its maximum acceleration."_

Eric hopped back twice as flak cannons did their best to keep him from gaining on the tanks. Mentally shrugging at the situation, his right hand burst into bluish-white light, but soon flowed over with gold. "Chaos spear!" Like a bolt of lightning, he fired a beam of energy that ate through two tanks in succession.

"_Thanks to the Chaos energies in the suit, Eric is capable of performing advanced energy techniques. As you saw, Chaos Spear is a manifestation of Chaotic energy, perfect for the offensive. You also saw Chaos Control earlier. It's the full use of the Chaotic energy. It warps the very fabrics of time and space to allow near-instantaneous teleportation! Of course, as we improve the science, many more variants should become available to us. Why, we might even be able to slow down time, even stop it!"_

Eric chuckled to himself as he lobbed a chaos spear through another tank. His father certainly did like to go on about his work, but then again, today, he was supposed to, so Eric just kept going. He ran a count in his head. He'd taken down at least half of the tanks by now, but that was inconsequential. He was glowing, that was a bit more important. "Professor, not that I don't appreciate being a Christmas tree and all, but do you think we could tone it down a little with the light show?"

"_Hmm? Of course, Eric. Operator, reduce chaos reaction in the suit by thirty percent." "No good!" A new, younger voice said. "Professor! It's not the suit! There's a 300 percent buildup in chaotic energy!" "No!" Professor Gerald shouted, "That's impossible…unless…they're here…"_

"What are you talking about, who's here?" Eric shouted back, but to answer his question, a burst of light adorned with a myriad of color flashed to life, releasing a single, overly-muscular traveler. Almost lizardlike, its skin was black with red on his claws, feet, and top of its head. It raised its left arm, revealing an awkward looking weapon and screeched. "Just what the heck are you supposed to be?" A confused Eric asked.

His father only replied with, _"Black Arms…"_

The creature opened fire on Eric with the most awkward, purple gun, firing purple blasts at him that were no match for the reaction times of Project Shadow. "Easy now, big-fella," Eric began to say, but Gerald's voice cut in. _"Eric, don't hesitate! You have to kill it, now!" _"Are…are you sure?" _"Eric, listen to your father and destroy that thing before it's too late!"_

"Sorry buddy," Eric softly whispered as he dashed forward and attempted a kick, but to his surprise, not only did it catch his move, but it tossed him back before leaping on him and digging into him with razor-sharp claws. "Not me, you're not!" Eric shouted before the armor flowed with red energy. "Chaos blast!"

The force of a miniature explosion behind him, Eric blew his opponent to cinders as he freed himself. "Well that was easy," Eric muttered to himself, but quickly saw his armor begin to glow again. _"Eric! Don't let your guard down! There's more of them! They're teleporting in, via Chaos Control!"_

Quickly, one, two, five, fourteen, more Black Arms were arriving on the scene, not hesitating to begin their attack, practically decimating the tank battalion. As he threw himself into the fray, things were beginning to make sense, all while raising more questions. Chaos control and the numerous other technologies incorporated into the suit combined with his father's knowledge of the name of these invaders; he knew they were coming. "So this is what Project Shadow was for, huh?"

Letting chaos spears fly, Eric began to tear his way through the invaders, not even feeling worry as more teleported in. After all, Project Shadow was perfect for combat and was apparently geared at this situation. That being said, the next logical step would be mass-production, and as he strained and struggled before hoisting a tank and smashing several enemies with it, the thought of any government on the planet having this much power did make him feel a tad bit concerned.

Finally, as he stood the sole member of the battlefield, he heaved a sigh of relief, short-lived as one more teleported in. This one was different, a scaly starfish of some kind that was colored completely black, sans the large eye in the middle that glared at him. "The advanced force was wiped out?" It managed to say, but how, Eric couldn't guess, considering it had no mouth.

"I took care of your boyscouts," Eric declared as he walked toward the creature. "Defeated by a toy soldier? Interesting. Gerald must have something to do with this." Eric frowned on mention of his father. "Just what the heck do you know about my father?" Its expression seemed to turn to sinister glee as it replied, "Most likely, more than you. No matter, I, Doom's Eye, as envoy of Black Doom, I issue his divine edict, his declaration of war! I call forth the engine of destruction, Black Bull!"

Seconds went by before stretching into minutes and the once expectant Eric was about to call Doom's Eye's bluff when his armor burst into such white light that even he had to shield his eyes from it. _"Eric, watch out!" _Gerald shouted, _"We're getting one incredible surge of chaos energy! It…it's massive!_

Piece by piece, a gigantic monstrosity phased into existence. As Eric forced his eyes open, he was reminded of a giant, pixilated scene before he was greeted by the beast known as Black Bull. Large and bulbous, it was so vast that its neck couldn't be seen, just a head attached to a body, one with massive claws coming from a quartet of powerful limbs. Three horns jutted from its head, right above a single eye. Black Bull opened its mandible and let loose a terrifying roar that shook the ground.

"There is your prey, Black Bull," Doom's Eye said, "Spare no ferocity! Greet him with all your power!" The behemoth roared once more before bounding forward with surprising speed and it rammed the full force of its girth into Eric, wholly unprepared for the titanic force. Barely managing to recover and land on his feet, Eric dashed for the towering beast, which met his charge with its own.

The force of the impact was so great that Eric felt the metal in his shoulder twist and scream under pressure before ripping into his tender flesh. "D-darn it," he muttered as blood trickled down his broken shoulder. As he hopped back a few times, he was forced to dodge powerful fireballs erupting from Black Bull's mouth that exploded on contact with the ground, sending searing waves of heat in all directions.

"I'm not through yet," Eric boasted as his hand glowed with violent gold. He tossed a mighty chaos spear into Black Bull, but against its thick hide, he did little more than annoy the monstrosity, which retaliated with a burp of fire that he barely managed to dodge. "What does it take to beat you?" Eric asked no one in particular as he lunged for what he hoped as a weak spot.

His fist connected with its eye and it roared in agony, thrashing its head about as his fist stayed settled in its socket. It finally went limp and he sighed relief, but Black Bull was full of surprises. It started as a faint hum and grew into a scream as a piercing blast of blue shot from its eye and enveloped him.

"Fool!" Doom's Eye shouted, "Black Bull's power is far beyond your comprehension! His control of chaotic energy is so great that only my master can surpass him!" Having felt its power firsthand, Eric could only guess that no force on the planet could defeat Black Bull. At the same time, revealing their hand like this must have meant that he'd depleted any other forces the Black Arms could have sent. That was good. His father would be even better prepared for the next time, even if Eric wasn't there to see it.

"Hey, Professor, I can't beat him like this. I'm disabling the limiter." _"Eric, no! Your body won't take the stress! You'll die!" _"Ironically, I can live with that." Eric's armor sent out a snapping noise before it vibrated briefly. With surprising speed, Eric rushed Black Bull, dodging multiple fire blasts and lasers from the beast. He groaned under the pressure of his own speed as he circled the monster again and again before leaping on top of it. "Okay!" Eric shouted as he dug his fingers into the monster's hide and the tubes on his head shot into it.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Doom's Eye asked, bewildered. "I'm ending this!" Eric replied. _"Eric, no! It doesn't have to be this way!" _Gerald's frantic cry was unheard by his son as he sapped chaotic energy from Black Bull. "Hey, dad? Take care of Ivo and Maria for me, okay? Tell them…tell them I died doing something I believed in." _"Eric, no!" _"I'm leaving it up to you."

Eric's armor, Project Shadow, was glowing an intense red and Doom's Eye was frantic to gain distance from a situation he didn't understand. "Hey, Eye-thing!" Eric called to it. "Huh?" Doom's Eye muttered as it turned to its enemy. "Give a message to your boss for me. Chaos…BLAST!"

With Black Bull's chaos reserves at his disposal, Eric's explosion could be viewed in space, via the work-in-progress, Space Colony ARK. It held enough force to send tremors hundreds of miles away. It held enough power to completely obliterate everything in its path, including Black Bull. Including Eric.

"_Eric! No! Noooo!!"_

Explosion losing its strength and fading away, the only thing left was a few scattered pieces of armor and one frightened Doom's Eye, barely alive thanks to a translucent hand in his way. "M-master…" A trio of red eyes appeared before a harsh voice echoed, "Well played, Gerald. We'll be back." The hand grasped Doom's Eye and they vanished.

----------

Two Weeks Later: United Earth Federation Council

Professor Gerald was a man in his early sixties. He held a terrible truth in his heart that he had to convince the members of the Council. "As you can see," the balding man with the bulbous nose said, "The Black Arms are a serious threat! Project Shadow and my son were merely the first casualties! We must continue the project! Only with the power of the Chaos Emeralds may we save the world! I already have blueprints for newer models and the specifications for the ARK Colony Laser! Please, we must prepare our defenses before it's too late!"

His words, combined with the video feed of his own son fighting to the death sent a murmur through the Council, a group of representatives from around the world meant to hold their country's best interests at heart, all while trying to maintain a unified world government.

"We understand your loss. Your son AND a multi-million dollar piece of equipment lost, but this singular attack is hardly cause for concern."

Standing up tall and straight with broad shoulders, the dark-skinned Commander Lester Laker, head of the world military power, GUN, spoke with enough authority that his words quieted the room.

"Commander," Gerald shot back, "We can't sit idly by while Black Doom amasses his forces for another attack! As you know, it will take them several years before they have the chance to invade us again! We need to take that time and prepare for the conflict that awaits us!"

Laker waved him down. "This terrorist attack was unfortunate, but if you want us to truly believe in aliens, you'll have to try harder than this. After all, we have plenty of mutations on the planet that could account for them. However, what we _should _pay attention to is the dangerous energy of those Chaos Emeralds of yours. How many are in your possession? Ten? Twenty? If anything, your little display showed us how powerful your weaponry has become. Not to mention you apparently had past interaction with these…terrorists. I move that the Council pose a full inquiry on Professor Gerald's research."

"I second the notion," a member of the Council said, and soon it was in agreement.

Not long afterwards, a defeated Professor Gerald Robotnik exited the room and looked to two men. One was a bit portly with blonde hair forming a beard reminiscent of Santa Claus, while the other was skinny. His hair was brown and wild, going in every-which direction.

"I take it things didn't go so well," The portly one said and Gerald nodded in agreement. "Idiots," the skinnier one said, "they're going to hand this planet over to the Black Arms." "Calm down, Albert," Gerald said to the skinnier one, "We all knew the outcome of this, but we had to try. Unfortunately, this is where we part ways. They're going to be all over me soon and I can't bring down your reputations with me. Albert, Thomas, it's up to the two of you."

Up and coming in their fields, doctors Albert Wily and Thomas Light nodded solemnly to their mentor's words. Gerald chuckled, "This is for the best. After all, Maria and Ivo are so young, I need to spend my time with them. I leave my legacy, Project Shadow, to you."

----------

Eighteen Years Later: Robotnik Institute of Science (RIS)

A massive building full of secret technologies, it was strangely public. Sure, no one really bothered with it. There were rumors of weird goings-on, only accentuated with the weird lights and noises that came from the compound. A self-sufficient building, barely anyone entered or left, but that didn't deter a 14-year-old girl in a red dress from walking up to it.

She ran her fingers through her short, curiously pink hair as she passed a statue dedicated to the late Gerald Robotnik and she pounded on the door before shifting the weight of a bookbag to her shoulder. It took a while, but a blonde girl of the same age, dressed in baggy shorts and a tank top opened the door and the pink-haired girl's face lit up. "Hi Roll," she said happily. "Hey Amy," Roll replied before asking, "What are you doing here?"

Amy smiled brightly as she replied, "Well Rock hasn't been in school for what, two weeks now? I was getting lonely with out my blue guy around. Besides, the teacher asked me to drop off some schoolwork so he doesn't fall too behind…oh, and Bass too, I guess."

Roll sighed. Amy was nuts about her twin brother, Rock, calling him her 'blue guy' due to his tendency to always…_ALWAYS _dress from head-to-toe in blue. Still, he'd been busy the past couple of weeks, so it would only be natural for Amy to worry, Roll supposed. It did occur to her that Amy wasn't quite as enthused about hanging around Bass…but barely anyone ever was, her being a rare exception, being his girlfriend and all.

"I can take his work for you," Roll offered, but, being who she is, Amy pushed forward and entered the complex, saying, "I wanna do it myself. Isn't Rock around here somewhere?" "Yeah," Roll said, absentmindedly before adding, "He's in the courtyard, doing exercises." She immediately clamped her mouth shut, realizing that was something a bit too confidential, but Amy was already on her way. "Amy, wait, come back!"

----------

RIS Courtyard

"Come on, keep up, Bass!"

A playful voice behind a streamlined blue armor that bore a striking resemblance to its predecessor, Project Shadow, Project Sonic was a step towards mass-production. Many of the technologies pioneered in Shadow were deemed too dangerous, such as its dependency on Chaos energy. As a result, its power source was more common, only relying on Chaos energy in a backup. Not much of the design had changed, although surgery for neural implants was no longer required. Geared towards fast speeds with less strain on the pilot, it incorporated a technology referred to as 'air shoes'. This allowed it to hover a few centimeters off the ground and 'skate' towards its targets, giving it incredible freedom in mobility. Topping off the personal variant of its pilot, Rock Light, was a pair of rapid-fire pistols tuned to the plasma generator of the suit.

Rock zoomed through the obstacle course in front of him, making short work of twists and turns and quickly dealing with the slightly hazardous test targets before playfully calling back, "I'm going to steal all the action if you don't hurry up!"

"Can it, you dork, I'm doing this at my pace!"

A deafening thud was heard behind an obstacle wall before it crumbled and revealed the red Project Knuckles. The design was different, much heavier and geared to close-range combat. To that end, it sported a large pair of knuckles, each with its own pair of spikes at the end, designed for heavy impact before lancing into the enemy in quick succession like a pile bunker. The tendrils running from its head were considerably longer. According to its pilot, Bass Wily, it should have been painted black.

From above, in a reinforced room, the two gifted creators of the current projects, now older doctors Thomas Light and Albert Wily, watched the future. For Dr. Light, it was his grandson, Rock, fielding his test type Project Sonic. For Dr. Wily, it was his adopted son, Bass, in Project Knuckles. As of late, the technology had come together smoothly and their descendants were acclimating extremely well to the armors. The only regret was that they had to rely on the youthful to get their work done, well, this sentiment was more Light's than Wily's.

"Hey, Grandpa," Roll said as she entered, "Have you seen Amy? About my height, pink hair, red dress? She's wandering around and I lost her. She was trying to find her way into the courtyard, but I don't think it's a good idea to intrude on their training session."

Wily scoffed as he waved his hand. "Let her roam. Security will pick her up. Besides, what are the odds that she'll even find the courtyard?" "Pretty high, I'd say," Light responded as he eyed the girl in question enter the courtyard, via camera and finally could see her down below. "Just great," Wily muttered, "That stupid girl might ruin everything."

"Rock, Bass, this is Dr. Light. We have an unexpected guest, I think it best that we stop the test for now." "Awww," whined Rock as he ground to a halt, soon followed by Bass, who said, "Who's the idiot that messed up my day?"

"Yoo-hoo! Rock! There you are!"

Amy was running towards them, quickly gaining as Rock and Bass sighed heavily. "Your girlfriend, just great." "She's NOT my girlfriend," Rock countered. "Yeah, yeah," Bass replied before asking, "How does she even know it's you through that armor anyways?" Rock shrugged as he answered, "The blue color? I mean it's kinda my thing." "Yeah," Bass acquiesced. "You know, one of these days, you should dress in yellow. It'll totally throw her off."

The two began to laugh, not noticing Amy run through a laser-wire. Up above in the observation booth, Wily noticed a red light before a warning sign flashed. "Oh," he said, not hiding his surprised glee, "This will be interesting." "What's interesting," Light asked, but Wily merely pointed into the courtyard.

Small and round, the metallic orb rose from its post and opened vents, condensing the air around it to form a viscous fluid akin to green slime. It became a large body, controlled through bioelectric pulses generated by the orb.

"That's one of GUN's Gel Devils!" Light exclaimed. "That's top of the line military hardware! Where did you get it…no, why is it being used in a test?" A glint appeared in Wily's eye as he replied, "To show our superior designs. "That girl," Light said, "She's doomed!" "Not so," Wily casually replied, "watch."

Down below, Amy was frozen, unable to make a move besides screaming bloody murder as the Gel Devil loomed over her. "Hey, ugly!" The Gel Devil took no notice as Rock skated around him and pelted him with rapid-fire plasma, nor did it care that Bass slammed his mighty fist into it, only resulting in getting his hand stuck in its leg.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Bass exclaimed as he freed himself, only to be swatted away. "I dunno," Rock replied, "But I think it's angry." "You _think!?_" Bass snarled as he steadied himself. "Calm down, Bass," Rock replied as he scooped Amy off her feet and skated away. "Just by me some time so I can get her away." "Tch," Bass remarked before adding, "Whatever, just don't take too long, dweeb."

As Rock skated away in a blue blur, the Gel Devil reached for him, only to have Bass skate in the way. "Ah, ah, ah," Bass said as he wagged a finger, "You clear your plate before you go after dessert." He deftly dodged a punch from the Devil before retaliating with his own, stopping halfway in the move when he realized he'd just get stuck again.

"Okay, think Bass," he said to himself. "Forget the towering mass of goo. You're dealing with the freakin' eye in the center. How do I get it to come out and play?" Too deep in his thoughts, he failed to react as it sent its arm out, detached from the main body. Solidifying, it slammed into Bass with enough force to render him unconscious. Satisfied with its victory, it lumbered away to track the rest of its prey.

----------

"Amy, what are you doing here?"

It was a legitimate question, and Rock intended it answered as he set the girl down on the ground. After she patted her dress, she looked to him with a cheerful smile and said, "I just missed you, is all. So tell me, what are you wearing?" "This? Oh…heh, heh…well this is my Grandpa's invention, uhm, Project Sonic…but don't tell anyone, this stuff is top-secret."

Puzzled, Amy tilted her head to the side before asking, "Then why is your building…in the town?" Shrugging, Rock replied, "Wily always says people are stupid enough that you can hide in plain sight." "I see," Amy said, slightly insulted, "So this is where you spend all these weeks away from school? Working on science-fiction-made-reality and risking your life?" "It's not always this dangerous. I mean that's the first time I've ever seen one of those things before…shoot! Bass! I have to go back for him!" As he prepared to leave, Amy tugged on his arm, stating, "I don't think we need to worry about him…"

Wondering what she meant, Rock laid sight on the floating eye of Gel Devil. It had ditched the gelatinous body in favor of hovering silently to its targets and was now summoning its body again. "What happened to Bass…" Rock wondered aloud as he pushed Amy out of the way of a powerful, swiping hand. Reaching to either side, he revealed dual pistols and let plasma shots fly, regardless of the lack of damage.

"Amy," he shouted, "run away!" Hating to, but complying, Amy ran as fast as she could considering the obstructing dress, as Rock looked to his opponent. "I don't know what you did with Bass, but you'll pay for it."

Speed being his greatest asset, he ran practical circles around the Gel Devil, building up ever-growing momentum before slamming into it with all his strength. Pushing it as hard as he could, he began to gain ground on it before compacting his body and spinning madly. "Spin-dash!" He shouted before the force of thousands of rpm's a minute gave him the necessary vertical lift to shoot into the sky with his enemy.

Rising ever higher, he spun until he knocked himself free and continued to rise as the Gel Devil began to plummet. "Take this!" Rock shouted as he spun towards the Gel Devil, building up the pressure around him until his aerial wake was clearly visible. He impacted into the viscous body, his patented Sonic Wind technique managing to hit the eye inside the goo as they slammed into the ground. Unfortunately, while hitting the mark, the gel body greatly reduced the impact force and the eye was only slightly damaged, while the entire ordeal left Rock dizzy with one amazing headache.

"Okay, time out," Rock managed to mutter as he stumbled away from the crash site. Finally, dazed, he fell over. "Rock? Rock!?" Amy, forgetting the tact required to hide, rushed to him and looked him over. "Come on, this is no time to be sleeping!" The Gel Devil lumbered over to the third target and reached out for her, gripping her in its powerful hand.

"This is awful!" Light exclaimed from the observation booth. He was frantically racing his hands across his computer, trying to override the combat functions of the Gel Devil, but it seemed impossible. "Wily, what were you thinking!?" Wily chuckled as a diagnostic display of Bass's vitals said he'd regained consciousness. "I was thinking…it would make Bass mad. You know how he gets when he gets mad."

"Where'd it go!?" Bass snarled as he got to his feet. A scream from Amy, far in the distance his answer, he sped off. His eyes burned with rage, after all, he was already an angry person to begin with, and this thing had just humiliated him. What's worse, he could guess that Wily had put that stupid thing in the courtyard, just so it could tick him off. Well, it had worked. While Bass was mad beyond comparison, it worked for him. Years of forcing himself to live life on the streets before being _magically _adopted by Dr. Wily had taught him to feed on his anger and use it to fuel his desires. Right now, his only desire was punching in the bulbous eye of that freak of nature gel monster.

As he arrived on the scene, he noticed the unconscious Rock. "Typical," he muttered, forgetting that just a few moments ago, it was he who was the unconscious one. Then he noticed the screaming Amy in the Gel Devil's tight grip. He'd never be able to explain it, but something in him snapped at that moment. "You want something to squeeze!? Try me on for size!"

He slammed a powerful fist into its body with such terrible force that he sent the monstrosity skidding away a few feet, rather than just get his fist stuck. He smirked as his armor began to glow a faint red and in the observation booth, Dr. Light gasped. "That's impossible! He tripped the Chaos Trigger in the suit! But we never installed those!" Wily, ever-so smug at the moment, looked to Light and said, "You didn't install it into yours. I installed it into mine. Oh don't look so shocked. They're supposed to be able to tap into the limited Chaos energy in reserves for emergencies. I knew Bass would get mad enough to trip it."

"Wily, you're insane," Light muttered. "Emergency aside, you know the dangerous effects that Chaos energy has on human beings! Don't tell me you forgot about Eric!" "Of course I haven't!" Wily countered. "Eric was one of our best friends and he saved the world with this power! We owe it to him to do this!"

Normally quiet when the two scientists were talking, Roll spoke up. "Is Bass going to be okay? It won't kill him, will it?" "Bass will be just fine," Wily said, "You'll see. I'm telling you, he has Eric's potential."

The Gel Devil reached for Bass with its free hand, but he dodged it easily. After that, it was easy to slide under its other hand, occupied by Amy. A little focus, and the spikes on his left hand went white hot as he slashed his way through its arm, catching Amy as she fell free. "Stay with Rock," Bass ordered as his air shoes lifted him off the ground and at the Gel Devil. Both fists glowing now, he landed blow after tremor inducing blow to the ogre before rearing up and sending his white-hot fist straight through the gel and into the eye. Like with Rock, the gel body reduced the force of the impact, but unlike Rock, Bass was suited for close-range combat. One of Project Knuckles' many surprises revealed itself; the knuckles on his fist extended and retracted with lightning quick speed, puncturing the eye.

Everyone watched as the gel body dripped into nothingness and the eye exploded while an ever-annoyed Bass was slightly satisfied. His glow died down as he walked away, not bothering to care about the unconscious Rock or the frantic Amy.

Dr. Light watched as soon his grandson got up and sighed. For their first real combat exercise, it was favorable results, even if it was only because Wily had installed a component prematurely. It was then that he understood; Eric's potential indeed.

----------

Ending Notes: I liked it, but then again, I'm egocentric; of course I liked it. The question is: Did YOU like it? That's why I humbly ask for reviews. Tell me what you liked, tell me what you disliked. Input is the only way I can actually make it better and make it better I shall. Other than that, toss me some fan generated characters my way and watch as I shove them into the story somewhere. A name, brief description, and the understanding that I will take artistic liberty with your character are needed. Enemies welcome…as the Black Arms has a rather deficient lack of…intelligent flunkies. If you make a good guy, however, my only request is that their name have something to do with music, like Rock, Roll, and Bass.

I should have another chapter up shortly, as in either late tonight or late tomorrow night, just because I could have kept going, but decided to split this up. Remember now folks, this is an alternate universe, expect drastic changes.


End file.
